May the Fourth be With You

If you’re not familiar with the Star Wars films, you may want to check your pulse. If you have a pulse, and still haven’t heard of the space opera brought to life by George Lucas, here’s the recap. No spoilers ahead.

Light and darkness (metaphors for good and evil) wage an endless battle in the hearts and minds of sentient beings, particularly we humans. The saga Lucas imagines is a tale of Jedi (light), versus Sith (dark) battling for control of a galaxy far, far away.

Struggles like those portrayed by Jedi and the Sith, cross all boundaries of time, space, and generations. In science fiction, the span crosses species as well. The narrative arts employ a finite number of conflicts. Seven or fewer by most reckonings. Man versus man, and man versus nature to name two. That is another post altogether, but the point being that conflict is a central aspect of human nature, and why it anchors the narrative arts.

May the fourth started as a pun, and then became a day to commemorate the Star Wars narratives. Now even an official day by declaration of the State of California, Mr. Lucas’ home state. “May the Fourth be with you,” is a riff on the original phrase from the films, a phrase of well wishing between Jedi: “May the Force be with You.”

What does Star Wars have to do with EQ? Everything actually. Turns out that the Force, well it’s emotions. That’s right. Here at EQDashboard.com, we consider Emotional Intelligence a super power, indeed the force we train with. Don’t take our word for it, check out the articles below by thoughtful educators who agree.

Once you recognize that EQ is the study and application of the Force, that in turn changes your perspective. For one thing, it renders all you educators, coaches, and learning leaders we work with Jedi masters.

Whatever you prefer to call them, Jedi mind tricks, mind hacks, or leadership strategies, they have a common thread: EQ competencies. What emotional competencies are you teaching the young Jedi, students, and colleagues you coach and train?

Jedi and all other Emotionally intelligent beings practice, among others, these emotional competencies: